lingering in the air
by tobestardust
Summary: James stares at her a bit, stuttering and trying to find an adequate reply. He swears, it feels like the room is suffocating in her perfume, and he can barely breathe. /for our dancing days


_Because it seems I have an obsession with perfume headcanons and this was the first idea I had._

_Entered in the Star Challenge for the star Adara. For our dancing day's February fic in the gift-giving extravaganza. I hope you like it! (and an extra thanks to my super speedy beta whysosiriusumbridge)_

lingering in the air

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Lily doesn't start regularly wearing perfume until fifth year, when she returns from summer break with long hair and a bigger bust. She never really liked the scent, personally, it was always a tad too sweet for her. But the burst of strawberries and morning dew and mint simply became a part of her daily routine after realizing it made her loads more attractive and practically pouring it all over herself over the summer.

The day back from break, she sprays it without thinking, dabbing a bit over her wrists, and barely remembers the actions. It isn't until Alice comments about the smell that Lily realizes that it was because of her.

It isn't until James Potter leans into her at breakfast, and whispers that she smells divine, that she regrets it. Oddly enough, she makes an effort to spray a little bit the next day, and asks her parents to send another bottle when she runs out.

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The glass bottle shatters against her mirror, the pink liquid pooling on the wood, when Lily spots the perfume on her vanity and throws it at her reflection in anger. It reminds her of James Potter , and the horrible way he treated Sev today, and consequently, the horrible way Severus treated her.

Marlene repairs the bottle, and as the perfume flies back into its container, she finds herself crying into her pillow, Marlene's hand rubbing soothing circles on her back. Lily really is quite glad Marlene managed to save it, a bottle that size was ridiculously expensive, but neither of them brings it up afterwards, not even the day after, when Lily carefully packs it in her trunk.

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In Sixth Year, when James Potter tries to slide into the seat next to her in Charms, he is used to the scent that seems to linger on Evans, sweet and minty, and he subconsciously inhales. It has become just as much a part of Lily Evans as her red hair, and James never comments on it much.

Today, it seems that Lily is staring at him, because she remarks in an incredulous tone, "Are you sniffing me, Potter?" James seems to freeze, rewind his actions, and then reply.

"I think I just did, Lily, dear."

"I'm not your dear, so get your filthy nose away from me."

The bell rings and Flickwick starts lecturing before he even gets the chance to get up, though, and that was how James Potter finally managed to snag a seat right next to Lily Evans. It certainly has it's downsides (now he's too distracted by her to fall asleep), but really, James can't complain.

Lily can, though, and she isn't exactly sly when she mutters swears under her breath in his direction, but really, discretion had never really been her strong point. James spends the rest of the term going to Charms and looking forward to that strawberry and mint scent to waft over to him, and decides that he wants to smell that for the rest of his life.

He tells her so on Halloween, calling her a siren and poking fun at her red hair. Lily indignantly lifts her head up into the air and marches off, but the next day, James grins, because she is still wearing the perfume and, whether on purpose or not, tilts her neck towards him in Charms.

It really is quite nice.

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In Seventh Year, as James entered the Heads compartment, he knew immediately who his partner was, not by the flaming hair and petite frame, but by that smell that he dreamed about, all Lily Evans and nobody else.

It really shouldn't surprise him that she got the position, and he figures, if they have to spend the rest of the year in each other's company, he probably shouldn't ask her out just yet.

Lily seems braced for it, though, so she deflates surprisingly when he makes it clear that his intentions were for Head Duties only.

She leaves the compartment first, yelling at a group of Third Years, and her scent still lingers in the air when she leaves.

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The heads office is beautiful, all red and gold, with mahogany furniture and a crackling fire. Both James and Lily can't deny the allure of the squashy couch and the velvet drapes, and more often than not, one or the other is there. Sometimes both at once, and the once awkward silence becomes comfortable, and a kind of forced kinmanship forms between the heads.

One day, James creeps into the office to retrieve the books he had left in there, and he doesn't expect somebody to be there at two in the morning, but there she is, Lily Evans. He thinks she fell asleep doing her homework, he can see Lily doing that. (Calling each other by their first names started two months after the start of term, and he loves it.)

She is not slumped over a pile of books though, but a single letter, the address smudged by fat teardrops, and James' heart reaches out for the redhead, the fondness he had for her forcing him to carry her back to her dorm, dropping her on a couch and grabbing Marlene from Sirius' bed to take her upstairs. He forgets his books altogether. He doesn't, however, forget the way the sweet smell of strawberries and morning dew seem to linger on his shirt in the morning.

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He never tells Lily that he was the one to carry her to her dorm, and to smooth out the letter (from somebody named Petunia, he's still trying to figure out who that is) and put it back on her desk, but he knows that she knows, by the sidelong glances he gets and the occasional kind smile.

A month after that, when Lily is reading that damn letter again, and James is staring at her face (sad, angry, a little hesitant), she says something. Something exceedingly odd.

"Do you think you still like me, James?" James stares at her a bit, stuttering and trying to find an adequate reply. He swears, it feels like the room is suffocating in her perfume, and he can barely breathe.

"Yeah, I, I do. 'Course I do, Lily, we're mates now, aren't we?" He could hit himself for that answer, and he is quite tempted to, but he doesn't want to make a fool of himself in front of Lily again.

"No, no, I didn't mean like that, James." He curses himself under his breath, and looks at Lily for a moment before responding.

"I still like you like that, Lils. I never stopped." He expects something to happen, for her to storm off, or snog him, or do something, but she just purses her lips together and nods, puts her letter away, and leaves, closing the door softly behind her.

He finally takes a glance at the letter she left on the desk, and his eyes go straight to the last line.

_I unlike you, have found somebody who likes me just the way I am, and I have no need for my witch sister to ruin it. Not like you would know, like anybody could possibly like you. Freak._

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James feels awkward the next time he sees her, buttering her toast at breakfast, but he still takes his usual seat two places down.

He clears his throat, (they are one of the few people up this early, so she'll be sure to hear it) and when Lily turns her head in his direction, he finds that it is suddenly loads easier to tell her what was on his mind.

"You know, Lily, I wasn't kidding when I said I liked you, I mean, I'll probably like you forever, and Merlin, I sound like an idiot, but it's true, totally and absolutely true," he finishes staring at her with an intensity that makes her smile, scratching the back of his neck and turning away from her.

Then quietly, oh so quietly, she replies, "Forever is an incorrect concept."

With a grin back at her, he says, "You're an incorrect concept." She leans over, and then suddenly, Lily Evans is snogging him senseless, and he can smell her scent all over, and he is kissing her back, and Merlin, this is wonderful.

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The Common Room is filled with quiet chatter, and James has his head buried in Lily's hair and the scent of strawberries lingers on his clothes, and he loves it. He loves her.

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_(also credits to john green for that tfios line.)_

_Review, pretty please?_


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